Second tea from my Theodor order on Vente Privée . I must admit that I kinda chose this tea by default just to have a plain tea and because it was quite cheap . Now Ceylons never really transported me . I have at least 5 of them right now in my collection -because every time I think it will be THE little TEA Ceylon that will transcend me … and each time well no it’s not …

The smell is similar to all those little Ceylons. Are there only Great Ceylons somewhere ? I guess so .

The dry leaf is very thin and it has the typical twigs.

And the taste ? So we have an unpretentious and correct tea. Like all I tasted.. except 1 Ceylon I ’ve had … with my great aunt … a Mariage Frères …very good… but which one? mystery. In any case this Theodor is not his twin..oh no.

Yesterday I received the Theodor order that I placed on Vente Privée . Oh joy to see the postman emerging at my doorstep in the middle of the afternoon .

Obviously Theodor wanted to sell its so-called kimono bags , in aluminum . The 5 teas I ordered were in this type of bags that preserve wonderfully the qualities of tea. Well I personnaly do not care because all my teas end in an airtight dedicated tin but for those who keep their tea in the original bags , those ones were perfect.

This morning I had an embarrassment of riches with five new teas to test but my love for the legendary Earl Grey outweighed everything else. And seeing the sublime osmanthus flowers and corn flowers mixed with black tea leaves I cracked .

During the infusion the yellow flowers rise to the surface and we can see them only !

The liquor is very dark and smells delicious bergamot-y.

The taste obtained is strong bergamot, very present and very bright , almost slightly spicy . This is an extremely invigorating and joyful blend. Ideal in the morning. It reminds me a lot of Mademoiselle another blend by Theodor , another Earl Grey but scented with lavender . The Bergamot oil used is most likely the same . I don’t think I am wrong on this . It is also probably the same Chinese tea base between medium and full -bodied in terms of strength .

A good Earl Grey in conclusion even if I denote nothing very extravagant here .

thank you Terri :) I’m glad your finger is healing little to little.
Sil : they had Thé du loup at the sale on Vente Privée but it came out of stock very very quickly, I didn’t manage to beneficiate of the 50% off on this one :(

Darjeelings… with me it’s really all or nothing . I am often disappointed or completely horrified by the taste of some , and I’ve found some gems befitting me completely (some Sungmas in particular).

So we have a very classical leaf with a pretty vegetal but fairly low odour.
as I fear the highly outstanding capabilities of Darjeeling in terms of bitterness , I infused it for 2 minutes only.

Very green wet leaves, chopped wide are obtained. We see the classic mix brown leaves and green leaves typical of many Darjeelings.

The liquor is amber , quite dark for a tea brewed 2 minutes only.

Taste : it is a very vegetal Darjeeling , vivid, dynamic with this unique and so special boost typical of this type of teas. But it’s a little Darjeeling. Unpretentious. So not bad. But nothing more. Not the kind of tea for which I would wake up in the middle of the night to make me a cup of !

So I dip my homemade lemon & poppy seeds cake in it … that’s good anyway

Here’s one of my favorite types of tea : Oolong and even better Taiwanese Oolong ! and even even better , it’s a fairly oxidized oolong .

It comes from a swap with Sami Kelsh who is living in London, so I have a nice opportunity to finally taste this famous British brand.

It is a low fragrant leaf with a beautiful chocolate colour with golden highlights .

It looks more like a black tea rather than an Oolong at a first glance, but many Taiwanese highly oxidized Oolongs are like this .

Come on, let’s go for a dip of 4 minutes at 90 ° C as Whittard of Chelsea doesn’t give any brewing guidance on this package .

I taste a classic oxidized Oolong with a rather light mark. A discrete taste of cereals is pleasant enough but I cannot find very much honey and fruity typical tastes of the Taiwanese Oolongs . This is not a problem but I am surprised .

I have 50 grams of this tea so I’ll be able to explore it out more but I can already say I rather like it . Which may not be enough to buy it. But I enjoy drinking it. Thanks Sami Kelsh for sharing.

Preparation

I don’t pick this tea very often and this is not justice because it is such an original and good tomato tea.
Yes tomato flower tea is an ingredient which pairs perfectly with Darjeeling…I should have had this idea…but Theodor had it before me… The insolent Parisian is a winner and his Cocotte is as well !
Beware the brewing parameters…Darjeeling is there for sure…2 minutes max and not too much leaves…and you’ll join the royal tomato magical garden.

Recently I was picking tomatos (fresh off the vine, and yes they really are so much better in everything) and so much enjoying the scent, it really was inspired of the insolent Parisian! still got some of this sample to try, thanks for reminding me of it, it is a perfect tea for now.

Profile

Bio

First, please forgive me for my English and all the grammatical mistakes you’ll find in my posts.
As English isn’t my mother tongue it sometimes makes things more difficult to express cleverly and accurately what I feel.

I was mainly in black flavoured teas, green as well if not bitter.
I’m now drinking much straight teas because my palate is now developed enough to appreciate them .